Watch VideoOff-field changes at Shark Tank will only count if they help JP Pietersen win matches

Sharks coach JP Pietersen needs all the support he can get. At first glance, the structural changes announced by the Sharks look like a reshuffle, with few departures and a couple of new additions, but a deeper dive suggests the Sharks have laid some sound foundations. The notable changes are the departure of John Plumtree (there had been talk of a background role for the experienced Kiwi, but it hasn’t happened); the reposting of Neil Powell from Director of Rugby to Head of Junior Rugby; the appointment of Rory Duncan as Chief of Staff (effectively the head honcho who will run the show); the establishing of JP Pietersen as permanent head coach; and the appointment of Scott Mathie as Pietersen’s attack coach in place of Dave Williams, who moves into the newly created post of General Manager.

The acting CEO, Shaun Bryans, a finance guru, is continuing to serve as the Sharks negotiate key financial decisions, and he may or may not continue next season. The new structure announced on Wednesday is the product of months of examination into how the Sharks do business on and off the field. It began last October, not long after the meeting that confirmed Plumtree would step down as head coach, and it is understood that respected former players and coaches assisted in a deep-dive into operations at the “Shark Tank”.

The purpose of it all is the establishment of a slick operation off the field that gives the best support to Pietersen to achieve high performance on the field. The portents are good — Sharks stalwart Pietersen has won five of his seven games as interim coach, including statement home-and-away defeats of a Stormers team that had been leading the United Rugby Championship. The timing of the appointment is interesting — just before two crucial away SA derbies with the Lions and Bulls and during a resting period for their Springbok players — but credit to the Sharks for announcing their decision once it had been made.

[paywall]

Pietersen knows he is strongly backed. Duncan’s appointment is one of the most significant because he is going to be the man on the ground at Kings Park running the day-to-day show (Bryans is Cape Town-based). His task will be to pull the different departments into a cohesive unit.

Duncan is a thorough rugby man; he played lock for the Sharks, Free State (captaining the Cheetahs to their Currie Cup win in 2017), the Southern Kings, and clubs in Japan. He has coached the Cheetahs and clubs in Japan and England. When you add an MBA from the Warwick Business School in the UK, you have a rugby man well-equipped for the job of running a powerhouse rugby club.

Duncan has spent the last year pushing a rock up a mountain at the resource-strapped Cheetahs and should flourish at the Sharks. The Sharks said on Wednesday that Duncan will focus on “strategic coordination, governance alignment and execution across all aspects of the business”. This should fix a perceived lack of alignment at the Sharks, where, for example, coaches and recruitment officers sometimes did not seem to be in sync.

There was also the curious appointment of former Springbok Sevens coach Powell as Director of Rugby by former Sharks CEO Ed Coetzee. Powell’s new role in charge of the juniors will better exploit his coaching skills. Williams, an assistant coach under Plumtree, took a lot of criticism for the Sharks’ unconvincing attack in recent years.

He has been relieved of that position, but he has vast rugby knowledge — having held roles at the US Eagles, Bath, Zebre, London Irish, Southern Kings, and Cheetahs — so it is sensible that his acumen is to be used in another role. As General Manager, he will be accountable for “the strategic direction of all High Performance functions servicing Senior and Junior Rugby, ensuring alignment across recruitment and player pathway structures.”

[/paywall]